The present disclosure is related to an operation apparatus, an image forming apparatus, a display control method, and a medium for recording a program.
An operation panel that displays various function items and operation conditions thereof by employing a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a cathode-ray tube (CRT) is conventionally known as an operation panel for an image forming device such as a digital color copier and facsimile.
Recently, a display device (operation apparatus) with a touch panel that displays various function items while accepting selection of the function items and condition input is widely used. The display device changes the content of a display window in response to user's input.
The display device generally has a plurality of layers of display until reaching a window in which an image forming condition is set. For example, when a user presses a display area of a function item key, the display device switches the display window to a window relating to a function item corresponding to the function item key. The user selects and inputs the image forming condition according to instructions on the window thus switched. After lapse of a certain period of time since the image forming condition is set by the user, or after lapse of a predetermined period of time without setting of the image forming condition by the user, the image forming apparatus resets the image forming condition and changes the display window back to the initial window.
The display device is configured, in a state of displaying a window in which conditions for a certain function item can be input, not to display information other than details of the selected function item. As a result, for setting and confirmation of conditions for other functions, an operation of changing the display window on the display device to the initial window is required from the user each time.
For example, if the user presses a START key immediately after inputting conditions for a certain function item, without performing an operation for returning to the initial window, the certain function is performed but incorrect setting may be overlooked. In such a case, printing paper is wasted.
In addition, the display device resets the image forming condition after lapse of a predetermined period of time even if the user is in the middle of inputting setting of the image forming condition. In such a case, the user must repeat setting of the image forming condition, leading to inconvenience.
As a technique for solving such problems, a display control means of, in a case in which a function item key pressed (selected) on a touch panel is determined to be an upper layer key in a first display block changing, display contents in second and third display blocks while maintaining a display content of the first display block, is disclosed (Related Art 1). Furthermore, in the display control means of, in a case in which the function item key that is pressed is determined to be an intermediate layer key in the second display block changing, the display content of the third display block while maintaining the display content of the first and second display blocks. According to Related Art 1, a user can check a plurality of image forming conditions in parallel and can check other copy conditions while inputting a certain copy condition, thereby preventing incorrect setting.
In addition, a function display method is disclosed that uses a display window to display information that relates respectively to a plurality of types of functions that can be selected as a function for execution by the apparatus (Related Art 2). In this function display method, the display area allocated separately to each function in the display screen is varied in response to whether or not the function is selected, and when selection is possible of a part of the functions that are not selected as a result of the functions that are currently selected, a message to that effect is displayed in the display screen. Related Art 2 allows a user to simply comprehend the selection state of each function from the position, shape or surface area of the display area for each function on the display screen when selecting a function for execution on the apparatus, and may enable the user to simply comprehend whether or not a part of the functions of those respective functions can be selected from the display content on the display screen.
In addition, an operation unit display device having a display unit that divides an upper-layer default setting window in advance and displays: a plurality of function groups respectively arranged in a plurality of compartments; titles provided for the plurality of function groups that function as layer selection buttons; and detailed settings windows that correspond respectively to the plurality of function groups, is disclosed (Related Art 3). The operation unit display device is provided with an operation unit control means that displays the detailed settings windows in response to selection of the title that functions as the layer selection button. According to Related Art 3, a display area required for layer selection buttons can be reduced and the function selection buttons and the layer selections buttons, which are also the titles, can be easily distinguished, thereby efficiently using the display region.
In addition, an image forming apparatus that is configured to include: a plurality of function keys used for setting various functions relating to image formation; and a display unit that displays various information including the function keys on a display window, is disclosed (Related Art 4). The image forming apparatus includes: a multiple input unit that allows simultaneous input of operation information relating to one or plurality of function keys that are provided in the display unit and displayed on the display window; a function setting unit that collectively sets multiple functions according to the operation information thus input, in a case in which the operation information relating to the plurality of function keys is simultaneously input via the multiple input unit; and an engine unit that performs an image forming process relating to the multiple functions that are collectively set by the function setting unit.
According to Related Art 4, a user wishing to use multiple functions is only required to simultaneously operate on multiple functions desired among the plurality of function keys displayed on the display window of the display unit, in order to collectively set multiple functions according to the operation information thus input and to perform an image forming process relating to the multiple functions thus collectively set. As a result, the user can set the multiple functions without a complex operation, for example successively operating on desired function keys, and with as small number of steps as possible, and operability and convenience of the apparatus can be dramatically improved.
However, in Related Arts 1 to 3, although the user can input setting conditions for a predetermined function while easily checking a selection status of each function, windows that the user doesn't need to check are continuously displayed, wasting the display area of a screen.
In addition, although Related Art 4 allows simultaneous and continuous input of multiple function keys, detailed setting conditions cannot be input for each function. Related Art 4 is therefore not suitable for a user wishing to input detailed setting conditions.